Birds of Prey Issue 3
Synopsis "Hounded" Hellhound watches over Jackie Pajamas' Rheelasia "Compound", where he attempts to goad Black Canary into a fight, informing her that he too is a student of the Sensei. She refuses to fight, believing that if she wins the armed guards will shoot her. After Hellhound walks off, Jason Bard warns her that he's going to continue pushing her into a fight, which she says is one more reason she must escape. Bard tells her that will be tough, because though there's no fence, there is a hundred miles of jungle around them which will be hard to get through, especially with him blinded from a muzzle flash. Elsewhere, Robin helps Oracle go over satellite photos of Rheelasia with magnifiers in hopes of locating the Compound. While they're looking, Oracle receives an email which she initially believes is from a friend, until she checks it and finds it's the ransom demand for Black Canary: $1 million transferred to a "blind account" in Bosqueverde, which she does not see as a problem since she knows where she can get it, and quickly steals $1.3 million from the accounts of Roland Desmond. In the Compound, Black Canary sneaks into the men's hut to break Bard out with her, convincing him to come with her by pointing out that no one is going to pay millions for his release. She ties a rope around his waist for easy communication: one tug for stop; two for go, and says she's not only doing this because he saved her life but because they have a "mutual friend." On their way out of the camp they bump in to an armed guard, whom Black Canary quickly drops, and they run off not knowing Hellhound is watching them from a rooftop. He reports their escape to Pajamas, who becomes enraged because Black Canary's ransom just came through. In the jungle, Bard and the Black Canary rest for a moment and discuss their mutual friend, whom Black Canary admits is her best friend and she doesn't even know, until they're interrupted by the sound of approaching dogs. They flee, ending up at a cliff that they have to leap off of into water below. Meanwhile, Oracle and Robin have narrowed down the possible locations of the Compound to six places and Oracle is running a self written program to compare their original images with the new ones. Black Canary and Bard pull themselves out of the stream and head for high ground to avoid both Hellhound and predators, and an image of them climbing gets to Oracle, as does an image of the hunting party behind them. Bard and Black Canary find themselves above what appears to be a Rheelasian Coast Guard base when they're shot at and have to run again. Black Canary is able to sneak around and get the drop on the hunting party, defeating most of them in hand to hand combat, with Bard once again saving her life by hitting the last one with the butt of a rifle before he can shoot at her. Together they make their way down and are confronted by Hellhound. Before he engages Black Canary in a fight, his dogs run out of the bushes and are gunned down by Bard simply "shooting low". Black Canary and Hellhound fight, with Black Canary finally winning after stabbing Hellhound in the foot with a Sai and landing a kick to the face. Black Canary and Jason Bard sit on the beach until the Rheelasia army arrives and liberates the hostages. Pamerjanian has disappeared and Bard will need surgery--which Oracle promises to see he will get the best of. Black Canary asks how she ever lost track of a guy like that and Oracle says it's a "long story". After Black Canary tells her he saved her life, Oracle responds that she only wishes he were there to save hers. Appearances "Hounded" Individuals *Birds of Prey **Black Canary **Oracle *Jason Bard *Hellhound *Tim Drake Locations *Gotham City Birds of Prey Issue 003 Birds of Prey Issue 03